Disgraced judge on drink, negligence counts

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The disgraced former NSW judge Jeff Shaw has been charged with
drink driving and negligent driving following a car accident during
which, it is alleged, he was four times over the legal
blood-alcohol limit.

Mr Shaw, 55, was yesterday served with a notice to appear in the
Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney on January 21.

He will also be asked to forfeit his NSW driver's licence.

It will be alleged that Mr Shaw had a high concentration of
alcohol in his blood when he was involved in a minor car accident
near his home in Birchgrove, in Sydney's inner west, late on the
night of October 13.

The events of that night were the subject of public hearings in
the Police Integrity Commission during the week. A police
certificate of blood analysis tendered to the commission alleged
that Mr Shaw had a blood alcohol level of 0.225 from a sample taken
from him a few hours after the crash - more than four times the
legal limit.

The commission is investigating how Mr Shaw came to possess two
vials of his blood, the sample police wanted to test for alcohol,
and a personal sample he was allowed to keep.

In his evidence to the commission, Mr Shaw categorically denied
stealing the vial meant for police, but did not dispute that he
ended up with both samples.

Three days of hearings in the commission wound up on Wednesday.
The commission yesterday handed evidence in the case, including the
blood analysis certificate, back to police. It will report its
findings to the NSW Parliament in January.